Yuri Dolgoruky submarine to be handed over to Russian Navy on January 10

ARKHANGELSK, January 9 (Itar-Tass) — The head 4th generation nuclear submarine Yuri Dolgoruky of Project 955 "Borei" will be handed over to the Russian Navy on January 10, the press service of the Sevmash shipyard which built the submarine, told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.

The Yuri Dolgoruky project was started in 1996 and the submarine was floated for finalizing in April 2007. In 2004, 2006 and 2012, Sevmach launched batch production of three vessels of the project: the Alexander Nevsky, the Vladimir Monomakh and the Knyaz Vladimir /the last one is upgraded Project 955A - eds Itar-Tass/.

The Yuri Dolgoruky has passed the program of state trials, the Alexander Nevsky is undergoing state trials and the Vladimir Monomakh was taken out of dock for launching and subsequent tests on December 30, 2012.

The Borei-class submarines were designed by the Rubin bureau based in St.Petersburg. They make use of the newest achievements in shipborne radio-electronic equipment and noise reduction. The main ordnance is the new Bulava missile system. Each submarine of Project 955 can carry 16 intercontinental solid fuel R-30 missiles with a range over 8,000 kilometers and multiple re-entry vehicles. The rescue chamber can accommodate the whole crew. The submarine is 170 meters long, and 13.5 meters wide, with a diving depth of 450 meters and a crew of 107.

Boreis are to become the backbone of Russia’s naval strategic forces in the next few decades. In all, Russia plans to build eight Boreis by 2020, including three of Project 955 and five of project 955A /an upgraded version, with more powerful armaments and lower noise levels, capable of carrying 20 Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles each/. The head submarine project cost 23 billion rubles, but the batch produced subs are expected to be less expensive.

Sevmash, Russia’s largest shipyard, is currently building two groups of submarines: the Yasen attack submarines and Borei /strategic/ submarines.